Drogba's drive knocks life out of Barça

There could be none of the wild exultation with which each club has marked success over the other in the knockout phase during the past two seasons, but the victors' happiness will be prolonged. Didier Drogba decided the game, but there was as much satisfaction for the team in seeing their system restrict Barcelona to very few chances as Hilario kept a clean sheet without being unduly exerted.

Despite talk of Ronaldinho's return to form, the Brazilian came as close as is conceivable to being cowed. Khalid Boulahrouz, at right-back, forced him deep and when he attempted to slip into the middle he was stepping into congestion and eager challenges. Michael Essien, with his new-found composure, showed that he offers a hope of improvement for Chelsea, who have been not quite good enough in this tournament.

There were late flurries from visitors who realised the cost of this defeat. Five points behind Chelsea, the holders are now in second place in Group A purely on goal difference and know that Werder Bremen have at least a slim hope of eliminating them from the Champions League. That would be a marvellous prospect for Jose Mourinho.

The visitors' coach, Frank Rijkaard, commented that Chelsea were more predictable than they had been previously, but his opposite number will take that as a compliment to the efficiency and impact of the 4-1-3-2 system that is now in favour. The win would have been more comfortable had Andriy Shevchenko's crisp finishing not continued to desert him.

Even so there was no angst. After the red cards, allegations and insinuations of previous meetings, this match shocked only because of its rational character. An innocent onlooker could have believed a normal game of football was in progress. Apocalypse postponed.

Chelsea had the better of the action. With Drogba's strike it was they, rather than Rijkaard's men, who came up with a spectacle to crown the game. For all that, Barcelona's captain, Carles Puyol, will have displeased his coach by casting himself as one of the onlookers.

The centre-back was slack in letting Drogba meet the ball that Ashley Cole had sent in from the left in the fourth minute and, with a flick of the heel, turn away from him. The rest reflected solely the confidence of a striker notching his ninth goal of this campaign. His superb shot had power and precision to overwhelm any goalkeeper. It was reminiscent of the unanswerable finish that downed Liverpool last month.

Barcelona responded vigorously and switched to a three-man defence as they aimed to go on the offensive, but any shot-stopping by the Chelsea goalkeeper was quite routine. When Ronaldinho is subdued, the absence of the injured Samuel Eto'o is felt painfully by Rijkaard. A clean sheet is unusual for Barcelona's opponents, particularly in the kind of circumstances being encountered by Chelsea.

There had been no option but to give a debut to the Portuguese goalkeeper Hilario after the weekend head injuries to Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini, but he was only briefly the object of concern and sympathy. The crowd even cheered when he picked up a loose ball in the third minute. Although encouragement was intended, they may also have been relieved to learn that Hilario's hands do work properly.

Barcelona did not tax the goalkeeper. The strain, such as it was, peaked in the 15 minutes immediately before half-time in which the La Liga champions hit their passing rhythm. Mourinho cannot have been happy then with the left flank of his defence, where Lionel Messi and others suggested they could elude Cole.

It was a shot from there that involved Hilario fully in the 30th minute. Xavi was set up by Deco and although his finish appeared to be running wide the goalkeeper prudently made sure by turning it behind. There had been unease, too, for Chelsea during a spell when they had to depend on the centre-back Ricardo Carvalho demonstrating his worth.

When Messi had collected a Xavi pass on the right of the area in the 25th minute Hilario unnecessarily came to meet him and when the goalkeeper could only help the ball into the middle Carvalho needed to complete a crucial clearance. The defender also made an accomplished tackle on the elusive Messi just before half-time.

That was just an inevitable interlude in which Barcelona's technique came to the fore, and the visitors were not allowed to establish lasting domination. The most effective Chelsea move of the opening period saw Essien put Drogba through on the right after 17 minutes and, when his angled shot was half blocked, Rafael Márquez had to be alert to concede a corner as Shevchenko sought to capitalise on the loose ball.

An elementary knock-in does not offer itself to the Ukrainian these days. Essien, otherwise influential, enraged Mourinho by holding possession when he could have put Shevchenko or Carvalho through on goal. For the time being, picking out the £30m signing is not necessarily profitable in any case. In the 55th minute a Frank Lampard pass did set up Shevchenko in an excellent position but he fired high. After a win such as this, forgiveness is at least granted easily.